Music Reviews

Jazz.com offers the most comprehensive and detailed guide to jazz tracks available anywhere. Drawing on a team of more than thirty expert reviewers, we cover the best of current releases as well as classic performances from the past.

To browse through all of our reviews, use the search box in the upper right hand corner of this page. Or click on the boxes below to see some jazz.com's special music-related features.

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Below are the featured tracks currently in rotation at jazz.com.


John McLaughlin

John McLaughlin - "Five Peace Band"

John McLaughlin draws on some of the finest young Indian musicians for this track from his exciting new recording Reviewed here by Walter Kolosky

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Esperanza Spalding

Esperanza Spalding - “Ponta de Areia"

Esperanza Spalding dishes up a beguiling mixture of jazz and pop on this cover of a Milton Nascimento classic. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Taylor Eigsti

Taylor Eigsti- "I Love You"

Taylor Eigsti rises above the prodigy label, establishing himself as a young lion of the jazz keyboard. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Nicholas Payton

Nicholas Payton - "Chinatown"

Nicholas Payton mixes a sensuously delicious mood of sultry, slow-steamed blues blended with the mystery of a Raymond Chandler novel. Reviewed here by Ralph Miriello

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Marcin Wasilewski

Marcin Wasilewski- "Cinema Paradiso"

What remarkable patience Wasilewski shows in constructing his performances! Everything unfolds with such grace and with a relaxed flow. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Stanley Jordan

Stanley Jordan - "A Place in Space"

No smooth jazz here. But Jordan covers everything else, from light swing to polytonal energy jazz, on this track. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Brad Mehldau

Brad Mehldau - "The Very Thought of You"

Mehldau sticks to the changes, but only for a short while, before pushing this song into uncharted territory. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Chick Corea & Gary Burton

Chick Corea & Gary Burton - "Waltz for Debby"

Chick Corea and Gary Burton continue to work their magic on this track from their 2008 release The New Crystal Silence. Reviewed here by Scott Albin

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Kurt Rosenwinkel

Kurt Rosenwinkel - "Chords"

Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel brings a high-powered quartet to the Village Vanguard for his debut on the ArtistShare label. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Karrin Allyson

Karrin Allyson - "Estrada do Sol"

Allyson sounds like a real carioca on this Satie-esque song by Antonio Carlos Jobim from her recent Imagina CD. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Bobby Watson

Bobby Watson - "Purple Flowers"

Watson demonstrates his solid, soulful alto on a thoughtful ballad composed by pianist Harold O'Neal. Reviewed here by Ralph Miriello

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Lionel Loueke

Lionel Loueke- "Skylark"

The song may be by Hoagy Carmichael, but the attitude on this track is distinctly world fusion. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Charles Lloyd

Charles Lloyd- "Prometheus"

Charles Lloyd fronts a powerhouse band on a new ECM project released in conjunction with the tenorist's 70th birthday. Reviewed here by Matt Leskovic

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”Schuur"

Diane Schuur - "Nice Work If You Can Get It"

Schuur was the reigning jazz diva of the Grammy Awards in the mid-1980s. But this recording shows that Schuur is still a sure thing. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia .

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Maceo Parker

Maceo Parker- "Hallelujah, I Love Her So"

When the conversation turns to the funkiest saxophonists in the world, Maceo has to be on the short list. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Ronin

Nik Bärtsch's Ronin - "Modul 39_8"

Nik Bärtsch calls his music Zen Funk, At its best it capture a hypnotic groove that draws the listener deeper and deeper into the sound. . Reviewed here by Mark Saleski

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Metheny

Pat Metheny - "At Last You're Here"

No one beats Metheny at pastoral Americana Midwest fusion jazz. And he proves it again on this track from his latest CD. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Rava / Bollani

Enrico Rava & Stefano Bollani - "Estate"

Two pre-eminent Italian jazz musicans collaborate on "Estate," one of the few jazz standards to come from Mediterranean climes. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Ben Allison

Ben Allison - "Little Things Run the World"

We may never get around to talking about Ben Allison's bass playing - because he is so skilled as a composer and bandleader Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Moody and Freelon

James Moody & Nnenna Freelon - "Just Squeeze Me"

Moody and Freelon surprise the audience -- and themselves too! -- on this singin-and-scatting duet recorded live at Monterey. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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Cyrus Chestnut

Cyrus Chestnut - "Don't Be Cruel"

For jazz fans, Elvis has never really been The King. But Cyrus Chestnut gives him the royal treatment on this track. Reviewed here by Ted Gioia

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